Crown Land amendments vote in Upper House

More than 1,400 grazing permits across the New England North West could be voided if legislation amending the Crown Lands Act does not pass the Upper House on Wednesday.

The state government's introducing the amendments following a court decision last August that's brought the legality of grazing licenses, and other tenures over Crown Lands, into doubt.

The Member for Northern Tablelands, Adam Marshall, says 405 licences in his electorate are affected, with a further 1,007 licences spread across the state seats of Tamworth and Barwon..

He says the amendments are needed.

"It actually amends the Crown Lands Act, to ensure that everyone who currently has a license over crown land, which there's some 50,000 leases and licences for Crown Lands," Adam Marshall said.

"It guarantees those licences will continue and, those that are involved in grazing on Crown Land, that they have some surety they will continue won't be taken away."

The Member for Northern Tablelands, Adam Marshall, says the continuation of the licences is important to farmers who are struggling to find feed for their animals.

"My issue is that I've got graziers in my area that are struggling in some extremely dry conditions and the last thing they need is to have these grazing licences potentially taken away," he said.

But Labor spokesman, Mick Veitch, says Labor won't support the changes in the Upper House because they give unfettered new powers to the Minister and will create a lengthy dispute process.

"There would be no one in the NSW Parliament that would oppose the grazing leases across Crown Land in NSW [because] we all understand their importance," he said.

Mick Veitch says Labor cannot back the amendments because they give the Minister extensive new powers not in the interests of holders of the grazing permits.

"The Bill itself contains some Ministerial over-reach," he said.

"It introduces a new concept referred to as 'material harm' which contains no definition in the Bill and it also provides a dispute process that prevents people seeking legal redress for up to six months."